by david-perfectgonzo on Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:28 am
IMO people get carried away with the "4k" moniker now just like they got carried away with HD back in 2005. It's an overused marketing gimmick and most consumers don't understand the fundamentals.
HD or 4k would only look as good as the bandwidth you apply during the encode. Perfectgonzo's HD videos are currently encoded at 14 mbit, a typical 50 minute scene is a 5GB download. Only 20% of members download these, 80% stick with the smaller resolutions. I'm happy for those 20% though as they love the high resolution and ultra high quality.
We're shooting in 4k since Sept 2014 but we're not uploading the 4k scenes yet. I see some sites advertise "4k quality" but of course many are skimping on the bandwidth. 4k encoded at 15 mbit looks like shit, just like HD encoded at 5 mbit looks like a joke. Yes I can scream "4k" or "HD" but the quality is too bad so why bother? IMO if you want to play the 4k game without compromising on bandwidth (=bullshitting your customers) you have to encode at something like 40-60 mbit. That gives you a similar bandwidth/pixel ratio as 10-15mbit at HD. So we're talking about 50GB downloads for a 50 minute scene or ~1GB per minute. I curious how many customers would download these with current costs of storage and home DSL/cable speeds? 1%? 2%? So then we'd have 80% downloading the lower resolutions, 18% HD, 2% 4k.
We have invested in a huge redundant storage array solution that will allow us to host hundreds of 50GB scenes. It's all in place and ready, but my personal opinion is the time isn't right yet. I haven't gotten a single email/message from members asking for 4k versions of our videos. They ask for all kinds of things but 4k is not one of them... yet.
Any opinions here from hardcore porn fans? Do you download 4k versions for your personal porn collection? How big are they/what bandwidth do they use? Do you watch them on your 4k TV? Do you have a 4k monitor?